MAJOR acne at 40?? WTF?? | Page 2 | FerrariChat

MAJOR acne at 40?? WTF??

Discussion in 'Health & Fitness' started by REMIX, Jul 27, 2008.

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  1. REMIX

    REMIX Two Time F1 World Champ

    Damn, forgot.

    Okay, so I go to the dermatologist, she looks at it and says "pretty active case of acne you have there".

    She pops one of them and sends it out for a culture. Wait for 3 or 4 days and - negative - nothing wrong with me, no staph, no MRSA.

    I am now on a sulfur wash and some antibiotics (somethingsomething cycline). Seems to be clearing up but VERY slowly. I do have some scarring I'm told can be mitigated with lasers. I stopped using the sulfur wash on my face because it's drying the crap out of it.

    So we shall see.

    RMX
     
  2. TexasF355F1

    TexasF355F1 Six Time F1 World Champ
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    Glad to hear it wasn't serious.

    Some of that stuff can dry out the skin really bad. Usually it just does it for a few days though and then the skins becomes acustom to it. I've never used a sulfur wash before. Bet it stinks.
     
  3. REMIX

    REMIX Two Time F1 World Champ

    I smell like a used match.

    RMX
     
  4. REMIX

    REMIX Two Time F1 World Champ

    Well, it's coming back. I decided to get the oral antibiotic filled yesterday. It's called Minocycline. I'm getting really pissed about all of this. My other shoulder is starting to get it now. These things are very big and very red.

    I'm cutting out all artificial sweeteners at this point, too.

    RMX
     
  5. Scotty

    Scotty F1 Veteran
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    On Mino--watch the sun. Best taken on an empty stomach, though less sensitive to food being present than plain tetracycline.
     
  6. P Zero

    P Zero Formula Junior

    Apr 19, 2006
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    Try using PanOxyl Anti-Bacterial facial soap as someone else suggested earlier. If you go back to the dermatologist, ask about a 10% benzoyl peroxide topical gel. This combination has worked very well for me over the years.
     
  7. phdev

    phdev Formula Junior

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    Do you take a shower within 10 minutes of working out? I break out like crazy if i don't....

     
  8. TexasF355F1

    TexasF355F1 Six Time F1 World Champ
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    I never even thought about this, but you could be having a testosterone increase as a result of your lifestyle change.

    That could be another reason this is happening. And if you're taking any supplements, they could be causing it as well.
    I seriously doubt that's the reason. Almost no one can get home within 10 minutes of leaving the gym unless they work out at their apartment or in their home.
     
  9. REMIX

    REMIX Two Time F1 World Champ

    The only supplement I take, if you want to call it that, is MetRx. Been taking it since 1995 on and off, doubt this is it.

    I am on a testosterone supplement...from my doc. I skipped it today and may skip again tomorrow.

    RMX
     
  10. TexasF355F1

    TexasF355F1 Six Time F1 World Champ
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    Hmmmm......it is possible to develop an allergy to something in the MetRx. But I highly doubt that.

    It could be the test. supp. from your doc. It would make sense, and if it's raising your test level to that of what you were at 18, early 20's, then acne could be a result.
     
  11. SRT Mike

    SRT Mike Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #36 SRT Mike, Aug 27, 2008
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2008
    I'm no doctor, but when I was a teenager, I had the worst skin for about a year. I always had 10+ pimples at any given time on my face/neck, etc.

    The doctors tried *everything*. Retin-A, Tetracycline, various soaps, telling me to wash my face 3-4 times a day, applying creams, moisturizers, ointments, etc.

    Nothing worked - and everything they tried, it was always "you have to give it time" (meaning usually 4 or 6 weeks).

    I finally saw the most expensive dermatologist in town with a waiting list of around 6+ months. Told him what I'd been prescribed, he nodded, said "you need accutane" and wrote a script.

    I didn't get particularly dry - dry lips a bit, eyes were a bit dry... but ever since then, I had skin as smooth as a baby's ass. I am that person who never... ever... ever gets a blemish except maybe 1 or 2 ingrown hairs per year on my neck or something.



    Accutane has sort of (IMO) gotten a bad rap in recent years. It's linked to birth defects when women take it while pregnant. Despite a very very very few cases of that actually happenning, it's super-tightly controlled by the feds. I believe doctors have to call prescriptions into some federal agency and get them approved... so some docs may be hesitant to prescribe it. It also supposedly has some side effects (like depression), although I never experienced that. It can raise IIRC your cholesterol, so you need to stay away from red meat and fatty foods, and get monthly blood tests while you're on it. But a 'cycle' of accutane is I beleive 3 months. I did 2 cycles, with a 1 month gap between them.

    Best medicine I ever took. It's really a miracle drug... like if they had a pill that just instantly makes you skinny. It just works perfectly and transformed me from the pimple kid to the kid with perfect skin in literally a few months.

    Just my .02!
     
  12. drjohngober

    drjohngober Formula 3

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    Just stumbled on this thread . Hope it has healed but if not here is my 2 cents.
    1.Probably not an allergy. If red and itchy, could be but allergist would have diagnosed this quickly. Benadryl would have provided quick relief for your symptoms.
    2. Questionable if bacterial in nature. Antibiotics and washes should have helped resolve. Culture should have come up with something.
    3. Fungal or viral.... Shingles..could be..
    4. If not better, ask about some antiviral systemic medications for MD
     
  13. Scotty

    Scotty F1 Veteran
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    SRT Mike--Close, but not dead on.

    Accutane is dosed on a pill size/weight basis, and the dosage is usually adjusted to get the recommended amount of drug in your body over 5 months. Side effect list is very long, but most are minor things. It can raise your blood triglycerides (and cholesterol only to a much more minor extent)--but you are correct, as it requires monthly blood work.

    You are also right on in that it is tightly controlled, which makes it very hard to prescribe for acne other than severe nodulocystic scarring--that is its main indication. But if you need it, it can be a miracle drug.

    Most acne, though, is extremely controllable with other meds--but it can be a bit of a process, as what works for one person may not work as well for someone else.

    Benzoyl peroxide products were mentioned above--they can work extremely well, but they have a very narrow therapeutic window (meaning that you go from not working to working to side effects within a very narrow application range).

    And to make one other point, true acne is completely driven by testosterone and similar hormones.

    Scott
     
  14. REMIX

    REMIX Two Time F1 World Champ

    #39 REMIX, Aug 28, 2008
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2008
    As of this morning it seems whatever I'm doing is working. My acne is going away from what I can tell. My face even seems way clearer and even-toned. I did feel a bit nauseous yesterday, but it may be attributed to me having only 4 hours of interrupted sleep nearly every night during the past 2 weeks. I was so tired I slept nearly 10 hours last night and missed the gym this morning!!!

    Things I've done: quit drinking Diet Coke (was drinking 3 - 4 a day), started Minocyclene, cut out a lot of the fake sweetener intake, dropped the dosage on the testosterone.

    I will keep you all informed.

    RMX
     
  15. TexasF355F1

    TexasF355F1 Six Time F1 World Champ
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    You should give up all sodas anyway. You don't need them, especially drinking that many a day. I use to be 2-4 soda drinker a day in college. My acne got a lot better when I gave it up.

    Glad things are starting to work out for you. This threads been very informative.
     
  16. CAS

    CAS F1 Rookie

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    Could it be the testosterone cream that you were using a while back? Going on or off of that will cause hormonal changes that can cause acne.
     
  17. Admiral Thrawn

    Admiral Thrawn F1 Rookie

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    #42 Admiral Thrawn, Sep 1, 2008
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    How long have you been on the testosterone medication prescribed by your doctor? What medicine is it? Is it prescribed to raise your test back up to normal levels for your age, or to boost them for performance-enhancing purposes, such as for sport, weight-lifting, etc?

    I suspect this is the most likely cause, although fatigue, stress and poor diet can cause it also.

    As said a few posts up, true acne is caused by hormones. The body starts to think that the normal harmless bacteria deep in your pores is a threat and starts taking action, resulting in the swelling as the body thinks it is fighting an infection (excess blood is transported to the local area of 'infection' to supply white blood cells to fight the attackers).

    The -cycline medicines are antibiotics which kill off the bacteria the body misidentifies as being harmful, not restore hormonal imbalances, so the underlying cause is still there. If you go off the medication and don't change any other part of your lifestyle, the acne can return, often worse than before.

    IMO, there is no better cure than plentiful exercise and rest, and a healthy diet, including moderate supplumentation (e.g. multivitamins, fish oil).
     
  18. Scotty

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    Since possible causes of acne are being thrown around, I thought I'd clarify things a bit.

    All acne lesions start from a clogged (plugged) pore. The pore plugs because the skin lining the pore gets "stickier" under the influence of certain hormones and doesn't shed normally. Oil (sebum) back up behind this plug. At this point you have whiteheads, blackheads, or both and it may stop there. However, bacteria that live in the pore can start to munch on the backed up oil, producing chemicals which attract the body's white blood cells, resulting in inflammation. At this point you have red bumps (that can have pus heads or not). If the pore ruptures under the surface of the skin you can get cysts and nodules (deeper, bigger red bumps).

    So hormones are the root cause, although many folks can have acne with "normal" hormone levels. Supplemental testosterone can absolutely cause acne, although you can certainly be out of your teenage years and get acne with no supplemental hormones. Because these hormones do necessary things, blocking them via drugs isn't usually either a good idea or effective (at least in men--different story in women).

    Interestingly, when you use antibiotics to treat acne you see an initial decrease in the numbers of bacteria, but then the bacteria become resistant and the numbers increase again. Usually, though, the antibiotic keeps working. This is thought to be due to anti-inflammatory effects of the antibiotics that are different than there bug killing ability. And, clearly, antibiotics are typically only given if you have progressed past the whitehead acne stage.

    One key point--almost all acne therapy should include some type of a pore unclogging (comedolytic) drug--which is usually a topical. If the pores can't clog, you can't really make acne lesions. Retin-A (and other retinoids) is the prototype of this kind of a topical treatment.

    Everything above is a simplified generalization, and exceptions can and do exist for everything said above--but it is a good general guide, and true in many cases.
     
  19. rllucero

    rllucero Formula Junior

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    Hi Doc, I have a 13 year old daughter that is currently seeing a dermotologist and is taking minocycline and using is a cream called Differin to control her acne. She believes it is not really under control and is wondering, if what she is currently taking is best. Retin-A did not work for her. Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated!

    RL
     
  20. Scotty

    Scotty F1 Veteran
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    In general, kind of impossible to answer without actually looking at her, asking her questions (such as do the acne vary with her menstrual cycle?), etc.

    Retin A (or Differin) + Minocin is, in general, a very good choice as a starter regimen. Is she using things exactly as directed?

    Sometimes adding a benzoyl peroxide wash can be helpful. If her acne seems to vary with her cycle, occasionally hormonal interventions can be considered. In some case a sulfur based topical can be used in place of the Differin.

    It is rare that Retin A doesn't help, though it is common that a percentage of folks find it too irritating to use.

    Sorry that probably doesn't help much. Also, acne typical takes several months to come under control--keep that in mind before thinking a plan isn't working. Also, it is quite common to need some fine tuning to the regimen.

    Good luck.
     
  21. TexasF355F1

    TexasF355F1 Six Time F1 World Champ
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    Great info. Thanks.

    Can you explain the cause of acne cysts? And if there are any ways to have them removed, outside from surgery. I have a few, and have been told I would have to have them removed via a plastic surgeon.
     
  22. Scotty

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    No one is actually sure, but here goes a stab at it. (I assume that these are not red, inflamed, new lesions but rather stable, not red, bumps in the area of previous acne. If active lesions, meaning red/inflamed, they are treated with some of the medicines mentioned in this thread. Also, they could just be scars.) When you get inflammation around a acne pore, you can get scarring. Especially if there is a partial rupture of the pore wall under the skin. Realize (and this is very simplified) but a normal pore is like a test tube or bottle, with the opening at the skin surface. If the opening area of the pore ruptures and scars, it can close off--meaning the bottle becomes capped. The oil glands that empty into this capped off pore continue to make oil, and the lining skin continues to make new skin. With no where to go, that just accumulates in the "bottle" forming a cyst that gradually stretches and enlarges.

    Sometimes cysts can be injected with a cortisone mixture and they will resolve. This is not very useful in my hands, and I agree that surgical removal is often the only way to get rid of them. Having said that, getting rid of them is usually not medical necessary (meaning they are very unlikely to hurt you at any time in the future).

    In terms of the surgery, Derm, Plastics, Facial Plastics (and others) should all be able to do a good job with the surgery, if that is the route you decide to go.

    Scott
     
  23. TexasF355F1

    TexasF355F1 Six Time F1 World Champ
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    Thanks a lot Scott. I appreciate it.

    I guess mine are the stable ones. They're the same color as my skin, but not "closed" I would say. If I squeeze one, sometimes I can get a white "puss" to come out, very very little though. It's not a nasty looking puss, but more like a stringy, white substance. I just remember them being zits and never going away.

    The other one can usually have "the same stringy, white substance" out of it. But more often. If I squeeze it. Which I rarely ever do. Then it becomes open, until it "fills back up". My best way of describing it.

    Thanks again. It's been a couple of years since I've had a derm. look at it, and he said it wasn't something to be concerned with either. I may make an appointment in the future, just to have it looked at.
     
  24. Scotty

    Scotty F1 Veteran
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    Excellent description of a standard cyst. Excision (or living with them) are really the only two choices.

    Scott
     
  25. rllucero

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    Thank you, we'll keep this information available.
     

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